Traffic control signal



Dec. 22, 1953 H. H. GROQMS TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 18, 1952 Herbert' h. Grooms INVENTOH- ATTORNEYS Dec. 22, 1953 H. H. GROOMS TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 18, 1952 Herbefi' H. Grooms INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 22, 1953 TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL Herbert H. Grooms, West Union, Ohio Application August 18, 1952, Serial No. 305,010

3 Claims. (Cl. 116-63) This invention relates "to a trafiic control signal and has for its primary object to govern the flow of traffic at an intersecton.

Another object is to include the traffic signal and timing elements in a single housing and avoid the necessity of establishing a remote control for operating the signal.

A further object is to employ the force of gravity in operating the signal to effect a rapid change thereof. 7

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this invention which embodies among its features a housing having an annular row of peripherally spaced diametrically opposed windows opening therethrough, a shaft mounted in the housing for rotation about the axis thereof, means carried by the housing and operatively connected to the shaft for continuously rotating the shaft, a head carried by the shaft within the housing for rotation with said shaft, diametrically opposed humps carried by the head and projecting upwardly therefrom, oppositely sloping surfaces carried by the head and converging between the humps for defining oppositely disposed depressions in the head, a

spindle mounted within the housing for rotation about and movement longitudinally along the axis of the shaft, a drum carried by the spindle for movement therewith said drum having win clows opening therethroug'h for registration with the windows in the housing," illuminating means within the drum, a cross pin carried by the spin dle and engaging the sloping sides of the humps, stop fingers carried by and extending outwardly from the drum, and stops carried by the housing and projecting into the path of movement of the stop fingers for holding the drum against rotation while the cross pin is between the humps on the head. V

Other features include horizontally extending relatively narrow circumferentially spaced openings extending through the housings below the windows, shields carried by the housing and extending radially outwardly therefrom between adjacent ends of the housing, radially extending arms carried bythe shaft for movement therewith 'and illuminating means carried by the arms for movement thereby in an annular path within the housing adjacent the openings, and radially extending shields carried by the housing and extending outwardly therefrom for in-,

tercepting light passing through the openings and separating the beams from the illuminating means on the arms.

In the drawings, Y Figure 1 is a side view of a traffic control signal embodying the features of this invention,-

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the signal illus-- trated in Fig. '1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the trafiic control signal,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken sub-- view taken substantially on the line 88 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view through the housing illustrating in detail the stop fingers and stops.

Referring to the drawings in detail a housing designated generally It! comprises an elongated cylindrical body [2 having a conical cover [4 at one end thereof which cover is provided at its apex with a suspension eye [6. Formed in the body I2 is an annular row of peripherally spaced windows l8 and closing the lower end of the tubular body 12 is a bottom plate 20 which is formed with an axial opening 22. A supporting bar 24 is carried by the cover I4 and extends transversely thereacross and this bar 24 is provided midway betweenopposite ends with an opening 26 which aligns axially with the opening 22 in the bottom 20 of the housing 1'2.

Secured to the housing and extending vertically thereof are circumferentially spaced at-' taching flanges 28 which extend vertically between the windows l8 and carry outwardly extending radially disposed shields 30. As illustrated in the drawings, the flanges ZBand shields 30 extend below the lower end of the housing i2,

\ and supported on the attaching flanges in spaced relation to the housing I2 is a ring 32 which cooperates with the lower edge of the housing, and

supporting bars 36 and 38 are carried by the ring 32 and extend transversely thereof, and

formed in the supporting bar 35 in alignmentwith the opening 22, is an opening 48), the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

relation to the opening 40, and depending from the bar 38 is a bracket 44 on which is supported a suitable electric motor 46, the drive shaft of A simi-- lar opening 42 is formed in the bar 38 in parallel which is journaled in the opening 42 and carries intermediate its ends a drive pinion 48.

Mounted for rotation in the openings 22 and 40 is a shaft 50, the upper end of which is provided with a socket 52 which opens axially through the upper end of the shaft for a purpose to be more fully hereinafter described. A drive gear 54 is carried by the shaft 58 adjacent the lower end thereof and has meshing engagement with the drive pinion 48 so that when the motor 46 is set into operation, the shaft 58 will be rotated. Carried by the shaft 58 intermediate its ends is a hub 56 carrying radially extending arms 58 having at their outer ends shields 68 in which electric lamp bulbs 62 are housed. The hub 56 is so positioned within the device as to cause the arms to rotate in a horizontal path which registers with the window openings 34 previously referred to so that light emanating from the lamp bulbs 62 will pass through the window openings 34.

Keyed or otherwise secured as at st to the shaft 50 within the housing i2 is a head 66. Carried by and extending upwardly from the head 68 at diametrically opposite points are humps 68 the side walls '18 of which slope downwardly from opposite sides to form diametrically opposed depressions or valleys midway between opposite humps 68. The head is provided with an axial opening 12 which aligns with the socket 52 for the reception of the spindle to be more fully hereinafter described.

Mounted in the socket 52 and the opening 28 of the cross bar 24 is a spindle it which is rotatable relative to the shaft 58 and movable longitudinally of the axis thereof. A cross pin it is carried by the spindle 14 for engagement with the inclined walls 18 of the humps 68, and mounted on the spindle intermediate the ends thereof in registration with the windows 58 is a drum 18 having light emitting openings 88 extending therethrough in which alternate red and green panels 82 and 84 are inserted. Stop fingers 86 are carried by the drum l8 and depend below the under side thereof for engagement with stop pins 88 which are carried by the housing 12 and project inwardly therefrom into the path of movement of the'fingers 86.

Suitable illuminating means 90 are carried by the cross bar 24 and extend into the drum $8 through the open upper end thereof so that the light emanating from said illuminating means will be transmitted through the panels 82 and 84 and windows I8 to display a selected signal.

Electrical energy is conducted to the lamps 62 through suitable cables 92 the terminals of the conductors of which are connected to slip rings 94 which are carried by but electrically isolated from the hub 56. Brushes 96 bear on the slip rings 94 and are connected through respective conductors 98 to a source of electrical energy (not shown).

In use with the motor 46 energized, it will be obvious that the pinion 48 will drive the pinion 54 at a relatively low speed so that the shaft 50 will rotate about its vertical axis at a relatively low speed and cause the head 66 to so rotate. Obviously the arms 58 and their lamps 62 will rotate also and by reason of the shields E8, the light emanating from the lamps 62 will be directed through the windows 84. As the shaft 58 rotates, the head 66 will be driven to cause the pin 16'to ride on the inclined surfaces to raise andlower the spindle l4 and the drum T8. As the pin 16 rides'over the humps 68, the drum 18 will be elevated to lift the stop fingers 86 above the stop pins 88 so as to permit the drum to rotate for a distance sufficient to escape the stop pins at which time the drum will move downwardly along the sloping sides 16 of the humps 68 so that the stop fingers 86 will engage the stop pins 88 and arrest rotation of the drum until the head 66 has made a quarter of a revolution at which time the drum will again be elevated to cause the stop fingers 86 to escape the stop pins 88 when the cycle is repeated. In this way the different colored panels 82 and 84 will be successively moved to register with opposite windows [8 in the housing 12 to thus automatically govern the signal. As the lamps 82 move through their orbits the shields 3D and flanges 28 will serve to momentarily prevent the passage of light through the windows 34 to indicate when a change of signal is about to be made.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a trailic control signal an elongated vertically disposed housing having an annular row of peripherally spaced diametrically opposed windows opening through the side thereof, a shaft mounted in the housing for rotation about the axis thereof, means carried by the housing and operatively connected to said shaft for continuously rotating the shaft at a relatively 'slow speed, a head carried by said shaft within the housing for rotation with said shaft, diametrically disposed humps carried by the head and projecting upwardly therefrom, oppositely sloping surfaces carried bythe head andconvei'ging between the humps for defining oppositely disposed depressions in the head, a spindle mounted within the housing for rotation about and movement longitudinally along the axis of the shaft, a drum carried by the spindle for movement therewith, said drum having windows opening therethrough for registration with the windows in the housing, illuminating means within the drum, a cross pin carried 'by the spindle and engaging the sloping sides of the humps, stop fingers carried by and extending outwardly from the drum, and stops carried by the housing and projecting into the path of movement of the stop fingers for holding the drum against rotation 1whille the cross pin is between the humps on the 2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the head and shaft have a socket opening thereinto through the upper end of the head and the spindle enters the socket.

3. A trafiic control signal and elongated vertically disposed housing having an annular row of peripherally spaced diametrically opposed windows opening through the sides thereof, a shaft mounted in said housin for rotation about the axis thereof, means carried by the housing and operatively connected to said shaft for continuously rotating the shaft at a relatively low speed, a head carried by said shaft and said housing for rotation with the shaft, diametrically disposed humps carried by the head and projecting inwardly therefrom, oppositely sloping surfaces carried by the head and converging between the bumps for defining oppositely disposed depressionsi'n the head, a 'spindlemounted within the housing for rotation about and movement longitudinally along the axis of the shaft, a drum carried by the spindle for movement therewith, said drum having windows opening therethrough for registration with the windows in the housing, illuminating means within the drum, a cross pin carried by the spindle and engaging the sloping sides of the humps, stop fingers carried by and extending outwardly from the drum, and stops carried by the housing and projecting into the path of movement of the stop fingers for holding the drum against rotation while the cross pin is between the humps on the head, said housing having diametrically extending relatively narrow circumferentially spaced openings extending therethrough adjacent said windows, shields carsaid last mentioned openings.

HERBERT H. GROOMS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date 2,221,272 snelling Nov. 12, 1940 2,616,388 Mueller Nov. 4, 1952 

